Space Systems Command Headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
US Space Force / Jose Lou Hernandez
The U.S. military is gearing up to purchase one other round of missile launchers from corporations next yr, and Space Force executives say they’ve adopted a latest “mutual fund approach” to their acquisition strategy.
“Versus picking one stock, we’re taking two different approaches because we thought that might best enable the federal government to show around,” said Colonel Chad Melone, chief of US Space ForceSpace Systems Command’s Launch Procurement & Integration Division during Friday’s press conference.
Earlier this month, the Space Force began the technique of procuring five years’ price of rockets under a lucrative program often known as National Security Space Launch Phase 3. In 2020, the second phase of the NSSL awarded contracts to 2 corporations – Elon Musk’s SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, a three way partnership Boeing AND Lockheed Martin – for about 40 military missions price about $1 billion a yr.
Source: Space X; Red Huber | Orlando Ranger | TNS | Getty Images
But with many corporations bringing rockets to market, Space Force splits NSSL Phase 3 into two groups of about 70 launches. Lane 1 is a latest tactic, around 30 missions with lower requirements, and a more flexible bidding process that permits corporations to compete for rocket launches in the approaching years. Track 2 represents the present approach where the Space Force plans to pick two corporations for roughly 40 missions which have probably the most demanding requirements.
“Several aspects strongly influenced our strategy, most notably the ever-growing industrial launch market, [and] a greater than 50% increase within the variety of national security space missions over what we had in Phase 2,” Colonel Doug Pentecost, Space Systems Command’s deputy program director, told the press.
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Space Force leadership has named several corporations which will now compete within the two-track process, including Rocket Laboratory, relativity theory and ABL space. Pentecost also noted that “a number of months ago” Space Systems Command signed a certification plan with Jeff Bezos Blue Origin for its Recent Glenn rocket, and the corporate desires to prove it might probably fly national security missions after three launches.
Pentecost highlighted the price savings behind a competitive approach to purchasing premieres. Pentecost said that for probably the most powerful rockets, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and Vulcan rockets “are half the value” of the previous decade’s Delta IV Heavy rockets, saving “nearly 50%” for the military to place “the biggest satellites into space.”
“We’re saving lots of money on the high end while still managing to capitalize on commercialized prices on the low end,” said Pentecost.
Regardless, the Space Force is closely watching the growing demand for industrial launches. Melone said non-military satellite missions would need to be “very high” in current projections to constrain Space Force’s plans, either through launch range availability or corporations’ production capability.
Already, corporations are achieving unprecedented annual launch rates. Space Force projects its Eastern Range, Florida, to see 92 launches in 2023, up from 57 in 2022, and its Western Range, California, to 42 launches in 2023, up from 19.
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